


Between Rebellion and Redemption

by Sometimesalwayssarcastic



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 17:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sometimesalwayssarcastic/pseuds/Sometimesalwayssarcastic
Summary: “So if you were able to get ahold of chemicals, you’d be able to create some weapons? What could those weapons do?”Varian paused at the questions, his gaze drifting from the bottom of the upper bunk to instead rest on the wall. It was faded and chipping, the stone long since losing its smoothness. It looked as cold as ice and a small, childish part of him wondered if his tongue would get stuck if he was to lick it.“Anything.” He licked his lips, “Given the right chemicals, alchemy can do anything.”“Even help take over Corona?”
Relationships: Andrew | Hubert & Varian (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel, Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 82





	Between Rebellion and Redemption

**Author's Note:**

> After seeing Varian in the first episode of the new season, I wondered how he managed to change so much since we last saw him in season one. He went from being so bent on revenge, to wanting nothing but forgiveness, and I thought filling in the blanks between that would be interesting. So, this story will center around what happened to Varian while Rapunzel and her gang were away, and how they managed to take over Corona. It probably won't be too long, but we'll see how it goes lmao.

Prison was a lot colder than Varian expected.

Though, to be fair, he had never really considered the living quality of prison before – had never thought that he would ever have to. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he would end up behind these dingy bars with nothing but a hard cot to huddle on. But, if there was one thing Varian had learned throughout the last few months, it was that things rarely went the way one expected them to.

Varian winced at the thought, his knees rising up towards his shoulders into a fetal position as he stared listlessly at the wall his bed rested beside. The thin blanket covering him barely offered him any solace from the chill and he felt his eyes begin to burn. He couldn’t remember the last time he had ever been this miserable.

For the last two months he had allowed his rage and drive for revenge to fuel him – he had a goal, an outlet for his grief, and a plan. Now, however, he was left with nothing but pain and defeat. He had failed to avenge his father, just like he had failed to free him. There was no back up plan, no plan B, leaving the boy with nothing to do but suffer in silence on a lumpy, filthy mattress in a dark cell.

His body jolted at the sensation of warm water dripping down his cheek and he hastily lifted a hand to wipe at it. He couldn’t cry – not _now_. The unmade mess of the bed above his told him that he wouldn’t be alone in this cell, and the last thing Varian wanted was for his cell mate to think he was weak. His dad wouldn’t be proud to see him crying like a baby.

His dad probably wouldn’t be proud of his son committing treason either, Varian mused bitterly, though he refused to let that thought linger. If he allowed himself to dwell too long on how his dad would react towards his attempt at revenge, he would be admitting that he had been wrong. He would be confessing that, perhaps, this was his fault, and he couldn’t handle that now – couldn’t psychologically deal with the repercussions that realization would bring.

He was certain that, if he admitted to himself for even a moment that he did something wrong, everything else would come crumbling down.

More tears followed the first before Varian realized and, with an angry hiss, the boy punched the mattress below him. The action was useless and lacked strength, but it was a soft outlet for his pent up frustrations as a sob escaped his throat. Beside him, Varian could feel Ruddiger climb from the foot of his bed to instead rest at his side. The raccoon began to chirp quietly at his owner and Varian gazed at him through watery eyes.

“What do I-I do now, Ruddiger?” His voice broke halfway through the question as another sob racked his body, “My plans failed. E-Everything I tried to do failed. I couldn’t save him, and now I’m here. I’m here and Rapunzel is there and it’s just not _fair_.”

His arm rose to roughly rub at his eyes as he gritted his teeth, his body tightening into a ball as the anger and grief he had been containing finally made itself known, his appearance be damned. His cellmate had yet to be brought back, but, even when he was, did it even matter? Did anything even matter anymore?

“I don’t know what to do. I-I failed… I’m a _failure_…”

His body shook with tears as he released his frustrations into the hard pillow, his cries muffled by the worn fabric. Beside him, Ruddiger gently patted Varian with his paw, the small chirps escaping him lost to Varian’s despair.

_ I failed him – I failed my dad. I won’t – no I **can’t** – do it again. I will make him proud, I swear it. Even if it’s the last thing I do. _

The sound of movement jolted Varian from the slumber he hadn’t been aware he had fallen into. Bleary eyes blinked as he stared incomprehensibly at the wall his bed was pressed against, his eyes burning and mind failing to recall where he was. The wall was dark and looked to be made of stone, causing Varian to narrow his eyes. The walls in his room were made of wood, where-….

“Oh, so you’re finally awake.”

Varian instinctually flew up at the strange voice, a string of curses following shortly after as he slammed his head into the bunk above his. His hands rose to cradle his forehead in frustration before he slowly turned his body to regard the owner of the voice. The low hiss emitting from his feet notified Varian that Ruddiger was near and also wary of the stranger. That calmed him down slightly – at least he knew he wasn’t completely alone.

“Smooth, kid. Just knock yourself out again, why don’t you?”

Varian frowned at the mocking tone, his eyes narrowing into a glare as he took in the form of the smirking man standing across from him. The guy was young, maybe in his mid-20’s, with dark hair that was pulled into a bun and a full beard. He probably would fall under the ‘pretty attractive’ category, though Varian was never one who cared too much about appearance. His arms were crossed, his weight settled onto his right leg as he stared expectantly at the boy. Maybe it was because he was meeting him in a cell, but Varian immediately felt on edge around this stranger.

“Who are you?”

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing. Last I checked, I didn’t have a cellmate.”

“Well, you do now.”

Growing uncomfortable with the staring contest they were locked in, Varian tore his gaze from the man to instead rest on the still bristling raccoon. He slowly rested a hand on Ruddiger’s back before lightly running his fingers through the wiry fur to both calm the creature and distract himself.

“You’re pretty sassy for a young brat.” The claim was spoken almost approvingly and Varian couldn’t quite understand why, “The name’s Andrew. Your turn.”

Thin fingers paused their stroking as Varian considered his response. There was nothing about the man that encouraged him to trust him, but it wasn’t as though giving his name was any big deal anyway. The other guy was evidently some kind of criminal, so the chances that he cared about what Varian did to the Queen and Princess were minimal. He probably wouldn’t try to kill him.

Probably.

“Varian.” He mumbled, his fingers slowly returning to their gentle tracks through Ruddiger’s fur, “My name’s Varian.”

“Varian, huh? Strange name.” Varian felt himself bristle at the insult, but opted against responding as he turned his attention back to the criminal, “So what did a kid like you do to land himself in here? Steal an apple? Insult the precious Princess’ hair?”

“No.”

Andrew lifted an eyebrow at the short answer, his smirk twitching, “No? Then what did you do to get thrown down here?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Ah, I see.” The criminal snickered, his eyes rolling as he walked back to the bed and lifted himself onto his bunk, “So it was something even smaller, huh? Just sent you here for the night as a scare tactic? I wouldn’t put it past these foolish Coronaeans and their ridiculous ideas of-…”

“I kidnapped the queen.”

There was a moment of silence that transpired following Varian’s interjection and the boy relished in the quiet. His head was still screaming from its collision with the bed above and the stranger’s constant jabbering wasn’t helping matters. He did, however, feel better now that the guy wasn’t looking at him. He didn’t like the look in the stranger’s eyes.

“You kidnapped the queen?”

Varian nodded once and, realizing that Andrew couldn’t see him, responded,

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

Varian’s pulled his knees up to his chest, his hands leaving Ruddiger to instead play with the sheets as he considered the question. He hadn’t really been able to talk to anyone about why he did what he did, and he wondered if he should let this stranger be the first. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt – after all, what else did he have to do?

“Because the precious _Princess_ turned her back on me and my father. She made a promise that she didn’t keep, and my dad paid the price. She wouldn’t help, so I kidnapped the Queen and attacked the Kingdom. That finally got her attention.”

Not that getting her attention actually helped. If anything it had just made matters worse. At least when he was ignored and alone he could work on dissolving the amber instead of being trapped in this hellhole. A part of Varian still hoped this whole thing was a nightmare that he would wake up from at any moment. _If only he was that lucky._

A low whistle reverberated through the stone cell, rocking Varian from the melancholy spiral that his thoughts had tended to take as of the late.

“Looks like you’ve got more guts than I thought, kid. I heard the guards talking about a threat, but I never would have thought it would be a child.”

“They didn’t either. That’s what they get for underestimating me.”

Varian narrowed his eyes at the wall and pursed his lips at the path the conversation had taken, his hands clenching the fabric tighter. No one ever took him seriously, so he had no choice but to prove that he wasn’t a kid. He did the right thing…

_Didn’t he?_

“As much as I hate to admit it, this kingdom is well protected.” There was the sound of rustling above Varian for a moment, and he wondered just what it was that his cellmate could be doing, “Getting into the castle is hard enough, let alone kidnapping the queen. So, how’d you do it?”

A part of Varian was suspicious of the interrogation he was getting from the stranger – just why was he so interested in what he did to get into prison? Varian wasn’t naïve enough to believe that it was purely out of curiosity, but he also didn’t have sound reason to believe the man had malicious intentions. After all, they were both locked up and defenseless, it wasn’t as though the man could do anything with the information.

“I used Alchemy.”

“Alchemy?”

Despite the situation, Varian could feel a small smile twist the ends of his lips. He really did love bragging about the benefits of alchemy.

“You’d be surprised what you could do with a little bit of Alchemy. A truth potion here, a few giant robots there, some spare chemical bombs for good measure, and the kingdom doesn’t stand a chance.”

Varian could hear a faint hum of approval emit from the top bunk and, despite himself, Varian felt a small twinge of pride. At least this stranger seemed to appreciate his abilities.

“Sounds like you’re pretty handy there, huh kid?” More rustling shook the bunk above and Varian raised an eyebrow in silent question, “So if you were able to get ahold of some chemicals, you’d be able to create some weapons?”  
“Well, I wouldn’t call them _weapons_, per say. Most of these compounds can actually be quite beneficial if used-…”

“That’s great kid, really, but what could they do if they were _weapons_?”

Varian paused at that question, his gaze drifting from the bottom of the upper bunk to instead rest on the wall. It was faded and chipping, the stone long since losing its smoothness. It looked as cold as ice and a small, childish part of him wondered if his tongue would get stuck if he was to lick it.

“Anything.” He licked his lips, “Given the right chemicals, alchemy can do anything.”

“Even help take over Corona?”

Beside him, Varian could hear Ruddiger chatter nervously, his paws nudging Varian’s side gently. Varian, however, barely felt the contact. He could barely feel anything as he let Andrew’s question linger in his mind, his body freezing and eyes widening. The pain in his head suddenly felt as though it was worlds away.

This guy was offering him an opportunity to pick up where he left off – to get another chance at revenge. He was giving Varian the opportunity to not only free his father, but also get back at that damned princess. He would be able to show the whole Kingdom the repercussions of turning their backs on his father. He would be _free._

His father’s disappointed face flashed through Varian’s mind and he winced inwardly, his eyes shutting tightly and body twitching._ Is this what he would want? _

Maybe not, but Varian, still burning with fresh anger and bloodlust, found that he wanted nothing more.

_ You’ll see that this was the right thing to do, dad. I promise_.

“What did you have in mind?”


End file.
